At the annual installation dinner of the Rotary Club of Cumberland, Rotarian and 2010 Comox Valley Citizen of the Year Bent Harder accepted cheques from Cumberland Rotary president Alan deJersey and Rotarian Keith Tatton for $800 each to fund surgical procedures to correct cleft lips and palates of children and adults in countries around the world.

Harder, known as "Mr Rotaplast" among Rotarians in Rotary District 5020, has travelled with missions made up of volunteers to Central and South America, the Philippines and China to help medical teams who give freely of their time and talents to change the lives of people born with what is more than a disfiguring condition.

Rotaplast International was started by Rotarians in San Francisco. The acronym is a combination of ROTA from Rotary and PLAST from Plastic surgery. The next mission of Rotaplast Canada is scheduled for Ethiopia in 2012.  See www.rotaplastcanada.com/ for more information on the work of the teams who participate in the missions.

Funds raised pay for medical supplies and the travel costs of the medical professionals.  Rotarian volunteers on these missions pay all their own expenses.  See: www.rotarycc.org for information about the work of the Rotary Club of Cumberland Centennial.